


A Minor Setback

by Tatami_Hokes



Series: The Good That Will Come Out [3]
Category: Rapunzel's Tangled Adventure (Cartoon)
Genre: M/M, Series, Varian Has Issues (Disney)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-18
Updated: 2020-07-24
Packaged: 2021-03-05 00:48:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 8,934
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25365625
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tatami_Hokes/pseuds/Tatami_Hokes
Summary: After leaving the Water Kingdom, Varian and co. arrive in a small village and find more than they bargained for. Perhaps a break from the gruelling trials was too much to ask...When Varian is pushed to the limit, Hugo gets a peek into a slightly more villainous side to the person he's been travelling with for months. How much will they both change on this journey?
Relationships: Hugo/Varian (Disney: Varian and the Seven Kingdoms)
Series: The Good That Will Come Out [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1793437
Comments: 16
Kudos: 219





	1. Village of Thieves

**Author's Note:**

> Here's another part! As usual, I did not proof-read this, and I'm a dumb bitch so sorry if anything's wrong. Hope you like it!

* * *

Once again on the road, Hugo felt like they’d been travelling for years, rather than a few short months. 

After leaving The Water Kingdom of Sudalind about a week ago, they’d been following Nuru’s guidance through the mountains. Hugo knew at the start of this, he wouldn’t have wanted to rely on someone for directions. Especially not someone he’d only met recently. Back in Starksilber, that sort of thing could get you cornered in an alleyway with a knife to your throat.

The weather had been steadily worsening as they went. The light grey clouds that were forming overhead threatened snow. 

Nerida had told them of the numerous villages that dotted the foothills and mountains that surrounded Sudalind. Varian had made the decision to stop in the closest village and buy supplies and winter clothes before they went any further. 

Hugo was looking forward to spending more than a day in civilisation. They could go to a inn and finally relax, have a drink. Maybe they’d find some dumb travellers to con out of a few gold pieces. Maybe he could talk to Varian alone. 

By the time they arrived in the small mountain village, the snow had started to fall, covering everything in a white powdery layer. There was a weathered wooden sign hanging by a rusted hinge over the entrance, proclaiming the village to be ‘Genbar’ and that it had a population of 52. Despite its size, it did in fact have an inn.

The houses around the village square were run down, surrounded by vicious looking pikes and wire, like it was am active war zone. They reminded him of the black rocks that had appeared all those years ago on some of the roads around Starksilber. Donella had theorised that they lead somewhere, though he’d never been interested enough to follow them himself. 

“Oh, this should be fun.” Hugo said flatly, flipping the sign with a finger. Really, as long there was money to be made here, he didn’t care. That, or a cold pint of ale. “It’s always a good sign when a village uses barbed wire on their window boxes. So rustically hospitable.”

Varian shot him a look, “We’ll be fine. We’re not staying long. Just try not to offend anybody.” He turned to their tiny group. “I think we should split up. Yong and I will find supplies and hopefully there’s someone here who will sell us some coats. I don’t fancy getting this far to die of exposure on the mountain.”

“Hugo would keep you warm,” Nuru laughed and clasped her hands to her chest, “Look, he’s blushing! Lots of heat to spare.”

Varian scoffed, “Let’s keep our minds on the task at hand, please.”

Hugo tried to brush it off with a laugh, but he couldn’t help but feel hurt when Varian rolled his eyes. Ever since they’d watched the festival together, it seemed that he couldn’t get Varian on his own. The few times they _had_ managed to steal a moment to talk about what had happened, either Yong or Nuru butted in, asking questions, or distracting Varian with travel plans. He wasn’t ignoring him exactly, just being civil. But Hugo had hoped they’d be more than just civil by now.

It was confusing.

“Hugo and Nuru, you guys see if you can find us somewhere to stay the night.” Varian said in his sensible ‘Everyone-listen-to-me’ voice. “Hugo, nothing illegal please.”

“Oh, please.” Hugo scoffed, “Might make things a little more interesting around this dingy place. These folks wouldn’t know fun if it bought them a drink at the inn!”

“If I come back and find you drunk, I’ll leave you out here to get snowed in.”

“This is exactly what I mean! Bunch of sticks in the mud. Hey, maybe if you joined me for a drink, you wouldn’t be so uptight.” Huge said. 

“Maybe if _you_ did what I told you for once, we could get through this without any trouble.” Varian said, his eyebrows raised like a disapproving parent.

“Oh, you’re just afraid of being _happy_!” Hugo threw his hands up. Every time there was an opportunity to have a little fun, Varian ran for the hills. At the festival, on the roof watching the dance, Varian had seemed like he liked spending time with Hugo. His behaviour hadn’t changed towards Hugo since then, and that was the problem. They were just…friends. 

Hugo didn’t mean to argue, he didn’t want to. Not _really_. But this was the most they’d spoken in the days since leaving Sudalind. 

“It’s not about that! I’m just asking you to do _one thing._ How hard is it to follow my instructions?” Varian’s face was once again dark and stormy, but this time Hugo felt a little satisfied for putting it there. Any emotion was better than none.

Hugo crossed his arms, “You know, I’m getting real sick of your _insistence_ to—”

“Stop arguing!” Nuru hissed, “What is it you always say about not causing a scene? Something in your thief code?” 

“He started it.”

Nuru threw her hands up, “Oh, for stars’ sake! Am I the only sane one here?“ 

To Hugo’s surprise, Varian held up his hand placatingly, “It’s okay, Nuru. I’m sure Hugo’s just tired.” He looked pointedly at Hugo, “We’ll talk _later_. At the inn.”

“Fine.” Hugo said.

“Okay.” Varian turned away and caught Yong by the collar as he went.

What did _that_ mean? Talk later? Was Varian finally going to explain why he’d been acting so strange? It wasn’t like Hugo had done anything wrong! Had he?

“Come on Hugo. The inn’s calling.” Nuru called. 

“Yeah, yeah.” Hugo sighed, long-suffering, and reluctantly turned to follow the princess to the inn. 

He watched Yong and Varian chatter animatedly as they disappeared off in the direction of a tiny open-air market. There went his chance to speak to Varian alone. Until tonight at the inn, at least.

They made it a few steps towards the inn, then Nuru turned to him with a face like thunder. “What is your problem? Why are you trying to start an argument?”

“What do you mean?” Hugo asked. 

“Are you kidding? Ever since we left Sudalind, you two have been _so_ weird with each other. I thought after me and Yong left you to watch the dance you would’ve finally made a move on Varian, but all you did was talk!”

“You were watching!?” Hugo yelped indignantly, feeling the blood rush to his face.

Nuru looked sheepish, “Well, Yong refused to shut up until he saw the dance, and I was curious, so…”

Hugo scoffed and shook his head, “I don’t believe this. Me and Goggles aren’t—“

“Oh, Hugo.” Nuru put a hand on his arm, “Don’t kid yourself. As much as I’ve loved the drama of watching you two get all moony-eyed over each other, this is getting sad to watch. You two are hopeless. I can’t stand it anymore! Like, over dinner at the camp last night, Varian asked you to pass him the bread, and you acted like he’d asked you for your hand in marriage. And the worst part is, Varian _blushed_! Then you refused to talk to each other for the rest of the evening! I can’t imagine anything less romantic.” 

Hugo wanted to sink through the floor. “For the love of…”

Nuru puffed up, clearly not done, “You know, back in my kingdom, we courted each other with gifts and stargazing trips. Do you have anything like that in Starksilber, or do you show your attraction by stabbing each other?”

“ _No._ And anyway, I _told_ you _._ Me and Goggles aren’t like that.” Hugo knew that what he was saying was futile. In fact, he’d done both of the activities that Nuru had said were romantic with Varian already. 

There was a part of him that told him _The closer Varian is, the easier it is to use him to gain entrance to the library._

Another part of him, fighting to be heard, said _Tell Nuru everything. It’s not too late. Abandon Donella’s mission now, and they’ll all forgive you._

But, hard as he tried, his feelings for Varian were unmoored from his mission, from his manipulation. They weren’t fake.

In the end, he sighed and muttered, “Just… _don’t_ tell him. It’s bad enough as it is.”

“You’re right about one thing. You’ve got it _bad_.” Nuru snorted, “I wish I could say Varian isn’t so stupid that he doesn’t know, but he can be so blind sometimes. Especially with matters of the heart.”

Hugo rolled his eyes, “Don’t call it that. You make it sound so cheesy.”

“It is! Right. My advice? When you talk to him later, tell him everything.” Nuru said, like it was that easy, “He _clearly_ likes you too, he’s just too blind to see it.”

“Oh, right. I’ll just confess over dinner then.” Hugo said flatly. “That sounds like a good idea.”

Nuru squealed, “Confess! Oh, you’ve got it worse than I thought.” She put a hand on the thick front door of the inn, “C’mon lover boy, we have a job to do.”

Nuru entered the inn with the confidence of a street performer, swanning in like she was princess of the village of Genbar and it’s 52 residents. Hugo followed, practicing a little more caution. He put his hands in his pockets and tried to look casual. Bandits usually left you alone if you looked like you belonged.

To his surprise, it was not full of bandits, but rather a few old men day-drinking, and a woman knitting by the fire. There was a girl who looked about Yong’s age, apparently manning the bar. 

“Well, this is…cosy.” Nuru headed for the girl at the bar.

“It’s quiet.” Hugo murmured from the corner of his mouth, “Not exactly the sparkling atmosphere you’d expect at the inn of a thoroughfare town.” 

“Quiet is nice. Romantic.” She elbowed him in the ribs teasingly. 

Hugo sighed and stalked towards the bar. He leaned against the counter and raised an eyebrow, “Kid, are your parents here? We’re looking for somewhere to stay.”

The girl blinked up at them with large grey eyes. She was a little owl-like. It creeped him out. “My parents left me in charge. It’s okay, I’m older than I look. Would you like some ale?”

“Thought you’d never ask—“

Nuru shook her head, “We just want to rent a room. Somewhere out of the snow, for the night.”

Hugo was already imagining the warmth of a room with a fire, thick furs and actual beds. Then his mind betrayed him, and thought of warming himself by the fire with Varian curled up next to him. He felt the blood run to his face. 

The girl looked at Nuru as if she felt sorry for her, “We’ve got a lovely room set up, just two silver pieces for the night. Is that okay?”

Nuru grinned, “That’s perfect.” She handed over the coin and took a key in return, “Can you tell my friends that we’re already in our room when they come in. It’ll be a boy in red Fire Kingdom garb, and a guy in goggles with weird hair. You’ll know them when you see them.”

The kid nodded solemnly, “I’ll be sure to send them up when I see them. I hope the room is to your liking.”

They headed straight upstairs after that, bypassing the bar entirely, much to Hugo’s disappointment. Nuru turned the key in a heavy wooden door, and it swung open to reveal a relatively tidy inn room. 

All the furniture looked hand carved and heavy, and each of the beds had a heavy fur blanket and overstuffed pillows. They looked extremely welcoming to Hugo’s aching bones.

“Four beds.” Nuru said, sounding a little paranoid. 

They usually took whatever room they could get, since anything was better than sleeping under the sky on snowy nights like these. It meant that usually there weren't enough beds, so they took it in turns for who slept in their bedrolls on the floor, and who got the luxury of the bed. On their entire journey, there had never been four beds. Not in the city, and certainly not in a tiny inn like this.

“That’s weird.” Hugo agreed, though he didn’t like to question it too much. It did mean there’d be no fights over who got to experience the joys of an actual mattress. His senses screamed alarms at him, but he was too tired to listen to them. He wanted to collapse on the bed and sleep until the snow had melted.

“We should wait for the others. Get some rest.” Nuru said quietly, wrapping her arms around herself. “I’ll wake you when the others get back. Don't worry, I won’t let you miss your little chat with Varian.”

“What about you?” Hugo asked.

“I’m fine. Go ahead, you look like you need it.” Nuru sat on the closest bed and drew her knees up. “And stop worrying about Varian. He’s got a one-track mind, and right now, he’s just thinking about the trials. I’m sure he’s just a little high-stung about the snow delaying us.”

Hugo laughed. Clearly the worry had been clear on his face. “Thanks Nuru. Wake me when they’re back, I guess.”

A few hours later, he woke to Nuru shaking his shoulder gently. The snow had built up on the windows, and the room was dark except for a candle on the nightstand.

“Where are they?” Hugo asked sleepily.

Nuru shook her head, “I don’t know. I asked downstairs, but the girl was gone, and none of the customers seemed to know who I was talking about.”

Hugo frowned, “That’s strange.”

“We should look for them. Maybe they’re stuck in the snow, and you know how Yong is with the cold…” Nuru hugged herself, peering out the window. 

Hugo hummed in thought, then grabbed his jacket from the coat-hook and swung it over his shoulders, “You can’t go out without a coat on, you’ll freeze. I’ll check the town over and see if I can find them. Goggles has probably just found another alchemy shop and is chatting up the keeper.”

She looked like she was going to argue, but her arms were bare, and her boots wouldn't serve her very well in the snow. She nodded reluctantly, “Stay out of sight. Something feels weird about this.”

Hugo nodded, and headed out. 

The village was quiet, and though it was late, even the inn downstairs was clear of people. That, if nothing else, was unusual. Hugo had never visited a village where the inn completely cleared out by ten. Every small settlement had drunks, and story-tellers, and guards from the Kingdoms passing through, who would drink the whole night away. 

He huddled into his jacket and crunched through the snow. It was almost up to his ankles, and still falling thick and fast. It was because of this, he could see footprints in the village square. Lots of footprints. 

He didn’t know if there had been a large concentration of foot traffic through this area in the last two hours, or if there had been a mighty struggle, but either was suspicious to him. The village had been sleepy when they’d arrived, why would the residents come out of the woodwork just to mill around the square?

There was something sticking out of the snow. Blood red.

He knelt down and pulled the thing out. It was Varian’s kerchief, the stupid thing he always wore around his neck because he thought it looked cool. He’d never realised it had a design of bared white teeth printed on one side, Varian must’ve always faced it inwards when he wore it. How strange. 

“Hi.” It was the little girl from the inn. She was standing in the snow, back in the shadows of a nearby shop. “I saw your friends. They seemed like they were in such a rush.”

“What?” Hugo squinted into the dark, trying to make out her face. “Do you know where they went?”

“I do. I don’t think you’ll like it, though.” Her voice was the same it had been in the inn. She seemed sad, almost regretful. “I thought you’d stay a little longer. I made you all beds and everything. They wanted the others, which is sad, but you and your friend could’ve slept through it all and went away.”

“ _What_?” Hugo’s heart sunk in fear, “Who are _they_?” 

The girl sighed deeply, “I’d hoped they’d let me look after my new guests, but they were really interested in what you had with you. Well, what that strange boy had.”

“What we had? Do you mean the totems?”

“Is that what they’re called? I just thought they were pretty. They’re not for me, though.” She stepped out of the shadows, and as she did, so did two large men. Bandits. Big and muscular, armed with wicked looking short-swords.

He was just considering how best to take them down, how he could find the others and warn Nuru, when he felt a blinding pain explode at the back of his skull. His vision went white, then the world slid out from beneath him and he fell backwards into the snow. 

Then, everything was dark.

* * *


	2. Go Down Swinging

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, just a quick warning, this ones a little bit violent, with depictions of blood, stabbing and general fighting (Though not too in depth) Other than that, enjoy :)

* * *

Hugo awoke in a cold cell. He knew this, because it had happened to him more than once in his life. Donella used to joke—as much as that woman could joke—about Hugo being completely at home in a jail cell. She wasn’t wrong. He seemed to spend a lot of time in places like these.

“Ugh…”He sat up, rubbing the back of his head. He was unsurprised at the tacky half-clotted blood that came away on his fingertips. That’d been a hell of a blow to the head. He’d be feeling that one for weeks to come. 

He patted himself down, and realised whoever had knocked him out had taken all his gear, his coat, and his glasses. Good to know his sight wasn’t going wobbly because of his head injury. He saw that the necklace Varian had given him still rested against his chest. He was somehow more glad to have that than his dagger.

Hugo pushed up from the cold floor and took a moment for his head to stop pounding. He stood and felt his way to the door. The bars were rather spaced apart, so he thought if he tried hard enough, he might be able to squeeze through. It wouldn’t be necessary though. He pulled his lock pick out from where he’d hidden it beneath his belt buckle.

Picking the lock was easy enough. The door swung on well-oiled hinges, and the room beyond was just as cell-like. Water dripped from the ceiling into puddles on the floor, and icicles hung from the tiny slitted windows. He wondered if he was still in Genbar, or if he’d been taken further afield. 

He was amused to see that his gear had been left in a neat pile on a table where a guard was clearly supposed to be posted. He retrieved it, slipping on his jacket and glasses once more. His dagger felt welcome in his hands. 

His alchemical equipment had been strewn across the room. The chemicals had been drained, their glass containers smashed and ground to a pulp. Shame the chemicals didn’t mix on the floor and blow this place sky-high, but he supposed he should be glad they didn’t. Still. The kidnappers had completely wasted his rare ingredients and compounds.

He sighed and moved on.

Now, to find the others. If they weren’t here, he’d fight his way through the village until he found them. He was a little scared to realise that there was no way he’d leave here without Varian with him. He wondered if that was because of Donella’s quest, or Varian’s. 

Hugo crept slowly towards the door, moving close to the wall with a hand over his dagger. Alchemy was all well and good for the trials, but with all his ingredients scattered on the floor in his cell, Hugo intended to fight dirty when he found whoever was responsible for the gash on his head. 

He heard faint voices from down the hallway beyond. He slipped through the door and followed the noise. 

“Ugh, come here, you—Ben, he’s—!” A female voice called out, frustrated. 

He reached a door towards the end of the hall, and listened.

He could hear a faint struggle from behind the door, then a deep voice, Ben, said, “Linny, catch that damn kid.”

There was a solid thump, and a yelp. Hugo presumed someone had just hit the floor like a sack of spuds.

Ben’s deep voice said, “Kid, try that with me and I’ll kill your little friends. That poor little Fire Kingdom kid had been calling out for you. Don’t make me hurt him.”

Varian’s voice came, hoarse and clearly in pain, “You won’t lay a finger on him.”

Hugo’s heart lurched at the sound of Varian’s voice. He didn’t like it. He pulled the door open slightly, slowly, and peeked into the room. 

When training him, Donella had realised pretty quickly that he wasn’t ever going to be beefy enough to have any serious advantage in a fight, so she’d trained him instead to be efficient. He was taught to know exactly what he was heading into before he joined a fight, and how best to use his talents against assailants that were more physically skilled, and more often than not, a lot bigger than him.

One of the bandits, presumably Linny, was sprawled on the floor, unconscious, a huge welt starting to form on her forehead. She still held a short sword that glinted from across the room.

There was a table against the wall, near a cell that Varian had apparently melted his way out of; the lock was still dripping molten metal on the floor. On the table, the Air, Fire and Water totems were piled on top of Varian’s belongings. It seemed that he’d been able to acquire the coats he’d been talking about, before he’d been taken.

Varian himself was holding a chair leg, which he was brandishing like a sword. Hugo felt oddly proud of Varian in that moment.

The feeling evaporated as Hugo took in the state of him. He looked like a cornered animal, bloody and pale. There was no way for Hugo to tell how badly he was injured. His eyes were dark, and his slight frame was shuddering in fear, or anger. Hugo couldn't tell which. There was a gash across his cheek that skipped up to his nose, possibly from Linny’s short sword. The thought made Hugo angry.

“Kid, stand down. Get back into the cell. All I have to do is yell out, and my friends _will_ kill yours.” The deep voice belonged to an impossibly muscular man, with tiny eyes that conveyed his intent.

Varian just gripped the chair leg tighter, “Try it, and _I’ll_ kill _you_.”

Looking at them, somehow Varian seemed more dangerous to Hugo than the massive bandit. It was the promise in his words, it seemed that he knew he would carry through with them. 

He’d previously thought there were two sides to Varian; The bright-eyed alchemist, and the boy who woke up from nightmares and agonised over his worth. This was different. He didn’t recognise this look on Varian.

As soon as Ben launched himself at Varian, two things happened. 

Hugo ran into the room, unable to stay hidden and figure out how best to fight a man twice his size. He couldn’t hide with Varian in trouble.

Then, Varian took one of the remote explosives he’d been working on the week before out of his boot and hurled it at Ben. They clearly hadn’t encountered an alchemist before, and certainly not one as resourceful as Varian, and therefore had neglected searching his boots for weapons.

The explosive attached itself to Ben’s arm, and he stumbled back, wincing as if it had exploded already. “What is this?” He looked up, “What are you doing out of your cell too? Am I the only one doing my job here?”

Varian finally noticed Hugo, and looked equal parts relieved and surprised. His face cleared, and suddenly the bright-eyed alchemist was back, blinking and confused, like he was waking up from a dream. “Hugo, they didn’t hurt you!”

Hugo frowned, “No. They didn’t.”

“That’s good. I was worried.” He smiled, then turned back to Ben, detonator in hand, “I suggest you choose your next words very carefully. Here’s a suggestion! Why don’t you tell me where my friends are, and I might _not_ push this button.”

Hugo stared at Varian, feeling like he was looking at a completely different person. Everything about the way he was holding himself, his anger, his confidence, the set of his jaw. It all belonged to someone else, someone he didn’t know. Or maybe just someone he hadn’t met yet.

“Kid, get this thing off of me, and I’ll tell you what you wanna know. J-just get it off me!” Ben was tugging at the explosive, but it had wrapped completely around his arm and locked back onto itself, getting tighter every-time he pulled at it. His wild eyes didn’t seem to see that, though, and it looked as though his earlier bravado had well and truly fled him.

“Oh, I don’t think _you’re_ in the position to make demands.” Varian’s thumb traced the edge of the button, “Should I blow your arm off? Maybe then you'll reconsider.” 

_It’s almost like he’s performing_ , Hugo thought. _None of this is the real Varian. It’s just a front._

“Goggles? C’mon. Look at him. He’s done.” Hugo said, trying to keep the pleading tone out of his voice. “We can get out of here, and leave him.” It was backwards to him, to be the one talking Varian down from doing something unnecessarily violent, rather than vice versa. 

Varian turned his dark glare towards him. Hugo saw that beyond the anger, there was fear in his eyes. Just as he’d thought, Varian had obviously been deeply shaken. “ _You_ weren’t here, you don’t know…He told me he’d hurt everyone. He told me he’d hurt _you_.” He pointed at Ben, “He could die and he would deserve it.”

Hugo said, “I know,” though he didn’t know at all; he _hadn’t_ been here when his friends had needed him. He thought of the times the others had saved _him_ , but all he’d done though-out this entire journey was get them in trouble. “He does deserve it. But you don't want to do this. It’s over. You don’t have to keep fighting.” Hugo touched Varian’s arm with just the tips of his fingers, like he was petting a startled animal, scared that it might run away or lash out. He didn’t know which one Varian was.

Varian held his gaze for a long second. For a moment, Hugo thought he was going to snap and detonate the explosive, but he just sighed, like he’d been given permission to finally relax. He looked at the remote with a frown, then neatly disarmed it, opening the back panel and pulling out a wire. It dropped from the bandits arm with a dull clack. 

Hugo was about to breath a sigh of relief, but the bandit suddenly lurched forward and pinned Varian to the far wall. Varian cried out, his voice dulled by the hand around his throat. 

A wicked looking short-sword had appeared in Ben’s hand. 

“You shouldn't have done that.” Ben’s gravelly voice was almost painful to Hugo’s ears. “Should’ve killed me when you had the chance, boy.” He spat at Varian.

Varian kicked and struggled, his face slowly turning red under the bandits meaty grip. Hugo forced himself into action, pulling his dagger. 

“You’ll eat your words, old man.” He raced at Ben, dagger first. He swung, but Ben’s muscle-bound arm swept round and crashed into his gut. Pain exploded on his ribs and echoed up through his chest.

Hugo stumbled back into a solid wood table, yelping as his back slammed into it and his breath was forced from his body. His head rung and ached like hell. 

Ben had dropped Varian, who was gasping for air on the floor. He turned to Hugo instead, rage in his eyes. The bandit’s hand pinned Hugo to the table with impossible strength. Ben’s sword glinted. Hugo wrestled his hand holding the dagger free from Ben’s grasp, and thrust it out in desperation.   
He must’ve just nicked Ben’s arm, because the man reared back with a roar of pain. 

“You little shit!” He scrambled away from Hugo, clutching his arm. “Mela! Tomax! Get in here!” He called out for the other bandits that must’ve been watching Nuru and Yong. 

Hugo rolled off of the table and caught his breath while Ben was distracted. He tried to limp towards Varian. He could help _him_ , they could still run. The others…they didn’t matter. He didn’t need them.

He only needed Varian. For the mission. For Donella’s task. To finish this.

He tried not to think about Nuru’s smiling face, her supportive talks with him, and Yong’s innocent eyes, almost a little brother them all. He couldn’t leave them. He wanted to be able to, but he knew he couldn’t.

Ben turned back to Hugo, his sword held out in front of him. It was clear that he’d underestimated them a few too many times, and now he wasn’t going to mess around anymore. 

“Let’s just talk about this.” Hugo held his hands up, dagger hanging from his finger and thumb, “We can drop our weapons, and all walk away alive. Doesn’t that sound nice? _I_ think that sounds nice.”

“No.” Ben growled, “No more talking. I’d rather just _gut_ you.” He shot forward, sword first, jabbing out, inches away from slicing Hugo’s stomach.

He deftly dodged the first attack, but his ribs ached from being slammed into the table, and he stumbled. Then Ben quickly struck again, and this time the sword caught him across his side as he tried to duck away. He felt the outline of the sword drag over his ribs, just under his arm. 

“Hugo!” Varian yelled, the terror clear in his voice.

Hugo could tell it was quite a shallow cut, but that didn’t stop him from crying out before he could stop himself. He held his side with one hand and held the dagger out with the other, daring Ben to come at him again. He was scared, there was no denying that, but he’d always wanted to go down fighting. 

Ben took one step towards him, growling. “Pray to whatever God you know. You won’t see your kingdom again.”

Ben drew back his blade. 

Varian jumped in front of Ben and parried the attack just before it could hit Hugo. His eyes were dark, determined. Not a trace of the fear from before. His hand was wrapped around a sword, the short sword Hugo had seen in the other fallen bandits hand when he came in. 

In Varian’s hands, the sword looked out of place. He wasn’t used to fighting, that much was apparent in the way he stumbled as he dodged Ben’s attacks, but someone had clearly taught him how to use a weapon. Through the haze of pain, Hugo thought that Varian’s desperate way of fighting was beautiful. The way he spun reminded him of the dance they shared in Sudalind.

Ben swung again, and Varian struggled to hold the blade back. His arms shook. Hugo knew he was a little stronger than he appeared, but he wouldn’t be able to hold back the bandit for long. Hugo stood, shocked, his chest heaving in pain from the gash on his side.

“Just run!” Varian screamed, his eyes huge and pleading.

Hugo’s legs almost moved on their own, but he planted them. He had to help Varian. “No.” He said, “No, I’m not leaving you. I’ll regret this, but I’m not leaving _any of you_.” He ran towards them, dagger drawn and hopefully deadly.

Ben stabbed at Hugo, and he heard the metallic _shing_ of the blade as it rushed towards him. He realised his mistake a second too late. In a battle of sword versus dagger, sword was always going to win.

Ben’s sword came round in a wide arc, and Hugo watched it in slow motion. It was going to connect. It was going to be a fatal blow. He knew both of these things, and then he knew; This time it really was the end. 

All this. Struggling, wrestling to survive, living to serve others, and this was how it ended. 

Ben’s sword was still arcing, swinging, slicing the air above Hugo. He looked up at Varian between his fingers, and his breath stopped.

Varian’s teeth were bared. He was behind Ben. His knuckles were white around the hilt of his sword. He struck.

The sword was plunged up into Ben’s shoulder blade. The arc of Ben’s own sword came to a sudden halt. Hugo saw the blade come out the other side of the bandits shoulder, just under his collarbone, still shining under the dim light. He felt faint. 

Ben screamed, agonisingly loud. Hugo remembered distantly that he’d called for help, and that it had never turned up. It was hard to follow the procession of events; his head felt heavy and his stomach was roiling. The sound of the sword sliding between bone and into flesh.

With the clumsy skill of a swordsman who hadn’t been in many real fights, Varian braced his boot on Ben’s back and slowly pulled the blade back out. Blood followed metal in a red string. This wasn’t real.

Ben produced a sound that Hugo had never heard from human vocal chords before. His short sword clattered to the ground with finality. He dropped to his knees. His form was crumpled, and one of his huge hands caged around his wound.

“No, no, no—“ Ben said under his breath as Varian came to a stop in front of him. He held out a shaking blood-soaked hand.

Varian held his blade to Ben’s throat. Hugo felt like he was dreaming. 

“Please.” Ben’s voice was strained, “I’ll leave you, I’ll—just let me live. Please.”

Varian’s face was blank, detached. Perhaps not detached. Perhaps just angrier than Hugo had ever seen him. Angrier than he’d ever seen anyone. That wasn’t true. Varian’s cold eyes reminded him of someone, but he couldn’t think of who in that moment. The blade pressed against the papery skin of the bandits neck. 

Hugo held out a hand, but he wasn’t sure what he could do to stop him. Did he want to? His side felt tight with singing pain. Ben was just a bandit. Hugo had killed men like him before. But to see Varian in the same position, making the decision, swinging the executioners blade? It didn’t feel right. 

“Please…” Ben kept chanting under his breath, begging. 

Hugo shook his head, “Varian—“

Varian pulled his arm back and struck. The butt of the sword hit Ben’s head with a muffled crack, and he crumpled to the stone floor. 

Hugo almost collapsed in relief. 

Varian stood and looked down at Ben for a moment. Then he crouched at his side and tore a few strips of fabric from his shirt. 

“What are you doing?” Hugo asked.

When Varian looked back at him, his face was still carefully blank, “I didn’t spare him so I could watch him bleed out on the floor.” He wrapped Ben’s stab wound with efficient motions, tying the make-shift bandage tightly around his shoulder. 

“Oh. Yeah.” Hugo was still reeling from watching Varian stab clean through the bandit’s shoulder. His mind kept replaying it, over and over, until all he could see was Varian’s bared teeth. 

Varian got up and walked back over to Hugo. He grabbed the hem of his shirt and pulled it up. Hugo could feel his face flush despite the pain. The fabric of the shirt peeled away from his wound, and he noticed for the first time the amount of blood he’d lost. 

Wow. The wound was a lot deeper than he’d initially thought.

“That’s not looking good.” Hugo said, hoping his voice sounded lighter than he felt. It sounded drunken and lilting to his ears. His head was swimming. He could barely concentrate on Varian’s concerned eyes. 

Varian hurriedly ripped a length of fabric from his own shirt with shaking hands and balled it up over the wound. Hugo’s legs felt heavy and tired, so he lowered himself to the ground, helped by Varian’s hands under his arms. He was so careful not to touch his side. Hugo appreciated that.

It really did hurt.

Hugo laid back on the floor. It was nice and cool on his feverish skin. Wow, his head was really hurting too. He felt so sick. His eyes wanted to close.

“Hugo, you’re going to need to stay awake. I don’t know where we are. I-I don’t know—“ Varian’s face was crumpled and distraught, “I don’t know what to do. I just need you to—“

“It’s okay, Goggles.” Hugo reached his hands out and closed them around Varian’s shaking ones. “I don’t want you to be scared. I’m fine.”

“You’re not! I need to help the others, Hugo, but I can’t leave you like this! I can’t leave you.”

Hugo shook his head, “I’m fine. I’ll be…fine.” He murmured. “Just take the totems, and…get out of…here.” His vision was being eaten away. There wasn’t darkness behind it, just nothingness. His mind was blank, any thoughts that formed were quickly eaten too. He couldn’t feel anything but his pounding head.

“Hugo? Hugo, you’re—“ Varian’s voice was lost to his swimming mind, blowing away like sand in the wind. 

As the last of his sight went dark, he saw the panic in Varian’s eyes.

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just as a side note, I'm totally working under the headcanon that Cass taught Varian some basic survivalist skills and Eugene taught him how to fight! He's not great at it, but it'll get the job done! Also I feel like Varian was a bit more sheltered from violent situations like these in Corona for the last few years, so his more villainous side only starts coming out when he's pushed over the edge... Just my thoughts while writing! :)


	3. Waking

* * *

“You should probably eat something.”

Varian looked up. He had been resting his head on the crook of his elbow, propped up on a rock, slipping in and out of sleep. Nuru was crouching next to him. She held a hunk of bread with jam out to him, wrapped in brown paper, and he took it hesitantly. He didn’t feel hungry at all. 

Not when Hugo was sleeping restlessly on the bed-roll next to him, his face pale and bruised. His hair was loose from his usual pony-tail, and was dashed across his pillow like a blonde halo.

Hugo’s wounds had been treated with any and all ointments that Varian was able to knock up with the supplies he had left, then bandaged cleanly. Varian had sewn up the gash on his side and head, glad that he’d let Cass teach him basic surgical procedures. He had a steady hand from being an alchemist and tinkerer, so it was easier than he thought it would be to use his skills on another person. 

So far, Hugo had only woken to eat and drink and ask where he was, but he didn’t seem to have retained anything that Varian had told him in his brief stints of consciousness. He was just glad they’d gotten away.

Nuru had patched up Varian’s wounds well. Though they had been few and shallow, he still felt like he’d been tossed over a cliff and landed in a thicket of thorns. Nuru herself had made it out unscathed, but her eyes were dull with lack of sleep. She’d spent the night before standing guard at the mouth of the cave that they had made their camp while Varian tended to Hugo. It was a good place to hold down while they all recovered. One entrance to guard meant that only one of them had to be on watch at a time.

“How’s Yong?” Varian asked. The cut on his cheek stung as he took a bite of the bread. It was stale and dry, and got stuck to his teeth. 

Nuru sat lightly on the ground next to him, her skirt fluffing up around her. She was wearing one of the coats Varian had been able to get in Genbar. He was glad he had acquired the coats before they were taken, otherwise they would’ve died in the frost as soon as they’d escaped. 

“He’s fine.” She said, “Well, he’s been a little restless. It’s hard. He’s never been away from his kingdom, let alone…”

“Kidnapped by bandits? Wish I could say it was a first for me.” Varian sighed and rubbed the sleep out of his eyes, “Listen, Nuru. Do you think this was all a mistake?”

“What do you mean?” She said, though she clearly knew what he was going to say from the tiredly sad look on her face.

“The trials. I know they’re meant to be hard, but…” He looked down at Hugo, whose eyes were twitching under his eyelids. “I thought I would be doing all this alone. A-and I _know_ I wouldn’t have made it this far on my own, but this isn’t fair. I can’t drag you all through this journey with me. Not if _this_ is the price.”

Nuru shuffled closer to him and put her arm around him. His shoulders tensed at the sudden touch. She looked at him like he’d said something endearingly stupid, “V, I’ve said it before. We’re all here for our own reasons, but none of us regret following you. What happened with the bandits wasn’t your fault.”

Varian sighed and let himself be held by Nuru. It was strange to be comforted by her. He was pretty sure she was younger than him, and she was a princess, like Rapunzel. It felt like it should’ve been the other way round, but he couldn’t bring himself to move. He thought it was mostly down to the exhaustion, but he felt tears prickle in the corners of his eyes. 

“Thank you,” He said thickly, “We wouldn’t have made it out without you.” 

He didn’t like to think back to his panic when he saw Hugo passed out in a pool of blood, in the room with the giant bandit that he’d stabbed in the shoulder. Nuru had already escaped her own captors and rescued Yong. She had assessed the situation quickly, wrapped them all in their coats, and helped Varian carry Hugo out of the old police building that they’d been held within. 

She’d found out while sneaking around to find Hugo that the small village used to have a self-contained police force, unlike most small settlements that were governed by outposts of their relative Kingdom’s guards. The police force had been overthrown by a group of bandits, who then robbed anyone stupid enough to come through. Varian had walked them all straight into a trap. 

After they’d retrieved Prometheus and Rudigger from the stable and carefully rested Hugo on Prometheus’s back, they’d left the village as quickly and quietly as possible. 

“It was stupid of me to take us through that village.” He said. “I should’ve known it was a trap as soon as we stepped foot in—“

“Varian, just stop.” Nuru stood up, and without her warmth by his side, Varian felt the biting cold of the winter wind tenfold. “It’s done. It happened. Any one of us could’ve noticed that something was off and left, but we _didn’t_. We just all need to rest up and we’ll be back on track by tomorrow morning.”

He sighed. They were all tired, but Nuru had hardly slept at all. “Sorry. I—get some rest. I’ll wake you up if anything crazy happens.”

Nuru smiled and pulled her coat tighter around her arms, “Okay.” She started to walk away, then turned and said over her shoulder, “Try not to keep dwelling on it. Concentrate on what you _can_ do.”

Varian thought of what he _could_ do and came up short. Back in Corona, in the early days when he’d thought his inventions and intelligence were a gift, he’d thought he could do anything. The world, while restricted to his own kingdom, was his oyster. After everything happened with Rapunzel, his father, Cass, all his mistakes, he realised that these things didn’t make him a good person.

Being a good person, becoming someone better than his history? It wasn’t an easy task. It was something he had to keep working towards. To have self control, to realise that he couldn’t keep rushing in. When he did, other people got hurt. Some of those people he’d _meant_ to hurt. 

Back at the bandit camp, he’d once again resorted to violence when alchemy wasn’t an option. 

He never thought he’d make the same mistakes again.

Varian nodded finally, “Don’t worry about me.”

She produced a tiny imitation of her usual grin. “I’ll always worry about you, Varian. You’re my friend.”

He smiled back. He felt the gash on his face once again remind him of what he’d let happen to the people who called him their friend. “Go on. You look like you’re about to pass out. I’ll keep an eye on Yong and Hugo.”

He heard a rustle of blankets from beneath him.

“No need, Goggles. Man, you look really stupid from this angle.” Hugo said quietly. “You too, Princess.”

“Oh great.” Nuru said, “He’s awake and already I’m reminded of why I hate him.”

“Well,” Hugo croaked, “That’s not very nice to wake up to.”

“Hugo!” Varian immediately forgot his bedside manners and threw his arms around Hugo, burying his face in his hair. 

“Hey, that’s more like it.” He said. His voice rumbled in Varian’s ear, weak, but coherent. 

Varian drew back and took in Hugo’s face. It was tired and bruised, no doubt a reflection of his own. Hugo’s eyes were bright as ever, though he squinted slightly without his glasses. Varian was just glad to see them open again.

“I’d call you an idiot, but this time it was all my fault.” Varian once again felt tears prickling at his eyes. 

Hugo laughed, “Goggles, don’t get me wrong, you _are_ an idiot. But not for that. Never for something like that.”

He said it so tenderly. It was very much unlike Hugo to sound tender when saying anything to anyone, but to _Varian_?

Varian wanted to hug him close again, but Nuru was still standing there, smiling benevolently like she’d known this would happen.

Hugo started to sit up, and Varian held out a hand to stop him. He pushed past Varian’s hand and sat up anyway, propping himself against the rock, holding his head, “Oh, shit. Wow.” He blinked, hard, “Ugh. My head feels like your cat has taken up residency in my skull.”

Varian rolled his eyes, “For the last time, Ruddiger is a racoon.” He leaned over and used a cold cloth he’d been using earlier to wipe Hugo’s forehead, “Unfortunately, the head injury was worse than we thought. I had to shave your head entirely to stitch it back up.”

“ _What_?” Hugo said, jaw on the floor. His hands went to his hair immediately. His face changed quickly to mock betrayal when he found that his hair was still there. “Oh, so it’s like that, is it?”

Varian snorted, “You’re so easy to trick.”

“Well you would be too, if you’d just woken up properly after a stab wound and head trauma!” Hugo said, then hissed and held his head. 

“Stars, you two are hopeless. I’m going to bed.” Nuru said, and walked away. 

The excitement had died down by dinner time, and they all sat amicably around the fire. Nuru had finally slept for a few hours, so she no longer looked like she was about to collapse. Varian was glad to see them all gathered together again. They passed around the last of their rations, and Yong was almost back to his talkative self. 

Varian let Hugo lean against him for support. He’d dressed Hugo’s wound again, and was happy to see it was almost closed up. His stitches, while not perfect, had done their job as intended. Hugo would have an ugly scar, but he wouldn’t be bleeding out any time soon.

“So, how did you guys get away from your captors? I know me and Varian managed to take down our guards.” Hugo’s eyes darted nervously to Varian and back, “Well, it was mostly Varian. So how did you guys do it?” He asked. His voice was strained, but he didn’t seem to be in pain anymore. 

Yong looked at him with a huge grin, “Oh, Nuru knocked them out. She’s a ninja, remember?”

Nuru sighed. She pinched the bridge of her nose and said, “I’m a warrior of Sarin. Not a ninja.”

Yong shrugged like he couldn’t see the difference, “I’m glad we got out. When I woke up alone in the cell, I was so scared. They caught Nuru pretty soon after. I was worried, but she kicked their butts real fast.”

“Wait.” Hugo said, “You woke up alone? Where was Varian? I thought you guys were caught together?”

Varian tensed, then remembered that Hugo was leaning on him, and tried to relax, “Oh, they took me into another room. Remember, I was alone when you found me? They were asking me about the totems, and my mother’s book.” He winced as he remembered. 

That woman he’d knocked out…Linny. She’d been pretty persuasive in getting information out of him, though he hadn’t spoken at first. He felt the consequences of that in his ribs, every time he breathed in, and every time Hugo shifted against them. Funny how a few kicks to the stomach was all it took for him to spill his guts about the trials. He never had been good with pain.

Still, Linny had paid back in full in the form of a heavy chair leg to the head. He really hadn’t changed at all. Revenge was always in the forefront of his mind. 

“Did they hurt you?” Hugo asked. His brows were flat and angry behind his glasses.

“No.” Varian said, and that lie came as easy as all the others. “But…come to think of it, they did say they were working for a client.”

“What? Did they say who hired them?” Nuru said, leaning forward. Her eyes darted nervously to the edges of the camp, where the light of the fire didn’t quite reach. If there were bandits hiding in those shadows, they didn’t jump out. 

“Yeah. What she said.” Hugo murmured. 

Varian thought. It’d been hard to hear them back in that damp jail cell, through his pain, through his racing thoughts. They gloated a lot, told him they were being paid handsomely for taking Varian and the others. “Something about a stern looking old woman? The big one kept talking about how she’d spoken like she was smart, well-educated? They said she’d asked them to rough us up…but then they’d decided all on their own to take the totems and keep us instead.”

Hugo sat up, away from him, hissing in pain. Varian could see his hands shaking. 

“What’s wrong, thief? Did you open your wound?” Nuru asked. 

Hugo shook his head. “No…I just didn’t realise, uh, how serious it was. I mean, we’ve done life or death before, but this is a whole other level.” He looked…paranoid. It was a weird look on him. 

Varian felt awful. They were all suffering because he hadn’t seen the teeth of the beast as they walked merrily between its jaws, “I know…I’m—“

“Goggles, if you apologise one more time, I’ll knock you out and take you back to the bandits myself. Maybe the concussion will knock some sense into you.” Hugo settled back down. Apparently whatever paranoia had gripped him, it had fled as quickly as it came. He leant back into Varian’s side again. 

“Right. Noted.” Varian chuckled. 

Hugo suddenly twisted to face them, “Speaking of concussions, why don’t any of you have splitting head-aches right now? Didn’t they knock you out too?”

“With some sort of knock-out gas, yeah.” Nuru said diplomatically. 

“I think it was some kind of alcohol based compound, maybe made with bleaching powder? It smelt like the laundry rooms in the palace.” Varian added. Having a cloth shoved over his mouth, and watching with fear as Yong fell in front of him hadn’t been a pleasant experience, but at least he didn’t have a concussion right now.

“Oh, right. Of course they just saved the good old fashioned blow to the head for me!” Hugo scoffed.

Varian laughed. While the ordeal had clearly shaken them all, he was happy that Hugo was more or less back to his old self. He hadn’t realised how much of an influence Hugo had on the mood of the group until now. He was always the one that cheered them up and made jokes when they all wanted to give up. 

“I don’t blame them,” Nuru said, “Every time I see your stupid face, I want to knock you out too.”

“Me too.” Yong added. “Has anyone ever told you that you have a very knock-out-able face?”

“Strangely, no, little man,” Hugo looked to Varian, “A little back-up here? I’ve only just recovered from my fatal wounds and I’m being attacked again!”

Varian tried not to laugh again, “Sorry, I’m with them. I often find myself wanting to punch you too.” 

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter isn't my best, but oh well! Still, Hugo's still (vaguely) alive, so that's good! 
> 
> The next part will only be one chapter and should be out at some point next week :)


End file.
